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What Lay Beyond is the seventh and final novel in the Gateways miniseries – containing the conclusions to the events of the previous six novels. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in hardback in November 2001.

Contents

Created by the ancient Iconians, the Gateways offer instantaneous transport across unimaginable distances. Throughout the known galaxy, the sudden reactivation of the Gateways has destabilized interstellar relations – and forced several of Starfleet's finest commanders to leap through separate Gateways into the unknown.

All of these heroes have taken the ultimate gamble: hurling themselves through a Gateway without any forewarning of what lay beyond. Now each must face his or her own unique challenge, while struggling to find a way back to the ships and homes left behind…

Kira Nerys finds herself stranded on Bajor, some thirty thousand years before her time. She gets engaged in a civil war, fighting alongside General Torrna Antosso on the Perikian Peninsula, and she later becomes his adjutant. It is the days when Bajor was still broken up into different factions, but already, the "Bajora" try to unite the planet - with the help of the Prophets. Kira and Torrna later become prisoners during the waves of the war, but they manage to escape. Back on the peninsula, Torrna is desperate - his wife and his children were all killed during the war. Kira tries to cheer him up and reminds him of his duties. In the meantime, the Fire Caves have collided, it was the time when the Prophets captured the Pah-wraiths there. Kira finally travels to the Fire Caves and finds another Iconian Gateway there. When she steps through it, she briefly meets an alien which apparently is truly an Iconian, and he sends her back to Deep Space 9.

On the station, Kira memorizes over her experiences and finally realizes what she has to do: To accept that Benjamin Sisko is gone, to accept that the world is changing, and finally for her, to accept her being in charge of DS9.

The idea of holding back the concluding elements of each Gateways novel for a hardback release was derived by Pocket editor John Ordover. In part, this was to benefit the authors, who would share in the royalties of the hardcover, separate from the advances they received for the original novel. It also provided Pocket with additional income; Ordover frankly admitting it was done "[to] make money". This move was heavily criticized at the time, and Ordover later noted that "some of the fans found it very annoying and cheesy marketing and I am the first to admit I may have gone too far". (Voyages of Imagination, p. 447) Co-creator of GatewaysRobert Greenberger similarly acknowledged the criticism: "In retrospect, this was not a good idea and people have come to resent the series because of the caper costing twenty-four dollars after investing in six five dollars and ninety-nine cents books." (Voyages of Imagination, p. 448)

The book also includes a timeline placing all of Pocket Books' novels, short stories, original audio books, eBooks, novelizations, and young adult books published through December 2001 in chronological order (following on from the earlier work in Adventures in Time and Space).